Chapter 3 - THE NAME BEHIND THE CONTRACTThunder rolled across the mountains.
The sound seemed to shake the entire ballroom.
Rodrigo remained seated on the tiny plastic chair.
His knees were pressed awkwardly beneath the children's table.
A six-year-old boy beside him continued coloring the dragon.
After a long silence, the boy looked up.
"Are you the bad guy?"
Rodrigo nearly choked.
Valeria closed her eyes.
For the first time that evening, she almost smiled.
"Go finish your drawing, Tommy."
The boy shrugged and returned to his crayons.
Rodrigo looked at his sister.
"I deserve that."
"Probably."
He nodded.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then Rodrigo glanced at the navy-blue folder.
"What exactly did you do for Nebula?"
Valeria looked down at the contract.
"Words."
He gave a bitter laugh.
"I know that now."
"No, you don't."
She gently touched the folder.
"You know the title."
Rodrigo frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"For eight months, I didn't simply write speeches."
She looked toward the terrace.
"Adrian had a crisis."
Rodrigo's expression changed.
"What kind of crisis?"
"The kind that could destroy a company."
He waited.
Valeria continued.
"Three years ago, Nebula Technologies was accused of stealing intellectual property."
Rodrigo remembered the scandal.
Everyone did.
The company had nearly collapsed.
Investors had disappeared.
The media had declared Adrian Alcazar finished.
"But the accusation was false," Valeria said.
Rodrigo stared at her.
"How do you know?"
"Because I found the evidence."
He blinked.
"You?"
Valeria nodded.
"Adrian hired a legal team. A public relations firm. Investigators."
She paused.
"None of them found the missing piece."
"And you did?"
"By accident."
Rodrigo stared at his sister.
She continued quietly.
"I was reviewing old interview transcripts when I noticed something."
"What?"
"The company's original patent application had been altered."
Rodrigo frowned.
"Altered how?"
"The filing date."
She looked at him.
"Someone had changed one digit."
Rodrigo slowly understood.
"That doesn't prove anything."
"No."
Valeria's expression became serious.
"But the original document was filed six months before the company that accused Nebula even existed."
Rodrigo stared.
"Someone had fabricated the entire case."
"Exactly."
"Who?"
Valeria's eyes moved toward the ballroom.
"That's what Adrian never told anyone."
Rodrigo felt a chill.
"What are you saying?"
Before she could answer, the doors to the terrace opened.
Adrian stepped back inside.
His expression had changed.
He no longer looked relaxed.
His assistant followed him.
"Mr. Alcazar," the assistant said quietly.
Adrian nodded.
"Tell them."
The assistant looked toward Valeria.
"The security team has discovered a problem."
Valeria stood.
"What problem?"
"Someone accessed the private archive."
Adrian's eyes met hers.
"The same archive containing the original patent records."
The room seemed to grow colder.
Rodrigo rose from the tiny chair.
"Who accessed it?"
The assistant hesitated.
"Someone using a guest credential."
Every head in the ballroom turned.
Hundreds of guests.
Hundreds of possible suspects.
Then Adrian added:
"The credential belonged to someone in this family."
Silence swallowed the room.
Valeria's face went pale.
Rodrigo looked at his parents.
His father suddenly lowered his eyes.
And Valeria realized the contract had never been the real reason Adrian had come to the wedding.
He had come because someone had tried to destroy him again.
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And this time…
The enemy was sitting at their table.
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